Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter

This week’s Fierce resource was originally published by HBR.org and explains why diverse teams work smarter and more efficiently.

Organizations must stop seeing workplace diversity and inclusion as a box to check off and instead truly understand the business impact that a diverse workplace can have on a business.

“A 2015 McKinsey report on 366 public companies found that those in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean.”

Per David Rock and Heidi Grant, HBR, a few key reasons diverse teams perform better than homogenous team are:

They Focus on Facts.

The idea of diverse perspectives creating innovative ideas is nothing new. Working with colleagues that have different backgrounds and think differently tasks our brains to think of challenges and obstacles in a different light.

With diverse views come constant revisiting of facts that allow teams to remain objective and to continually hold team members accountable for their actions. Differing perspectives can bring to light our own personal biases that we were previously blind to.

They’re More Innovative.

Working with people that share a similar background may feel comforting but it does not breed creativity and innovation. By leaving your comfort zone, team members are forced to use other parts of their brains to creatively problem solve.

Ultimately, diverse teams can only exist and thrive in the right conditions. It needs to be a safe and open environment where inclusion practices allow everyone to feel as if their voice is heard. Without this, a diverse team can never reach its true potential.